Paul Smith (artist)

Paul Smith ( born September 21, 1921 in Philadelphia, † 25 June 2007 in Roseburg ) was an American artist. He pioneered the ASCII art, as he made hundreds of images on his typewriter, and thus created Typewriter Art.

Life

Smith was born with cerebral spasticity -related and was therefore always decided as a child to the help of other people. Despite these muscle disease, were not possible because of the precise movements with his hands, he learned the game of chess, where he had run the trains helpers. Through the game of chess Smith later came in higher social circles. He was a good player, but there are no games on supplies.

Beginning of the 20th century city people were shot with impairments such as spasticity in public schools at Smiths, which is why Smith was excluded from school. Although he could not read or write so he began to use a typewriter, with the images he produced. The mechanism of the typewriter always produced the desired icon, no matter how long a key has been pressed or how little could be controlled the muscles of Smith. When using colored ink Smith realized that he could blur this with his fingers; this technique then he turned also to for pictures. Due to the limitations of the typewriter Smith had already in advance in detail the outcome of the pictures plan because he could not correct errors.

Smith made ​​to a variety of motives, including portraits of famous personalities, a Mona Lisa, landscapes, everyday spaces and objects. He often gave away the original images and not kept often, but every time a copy.

Until the 1940s, Smith and his family lived in Philadelphia, then the family moved to Hollywood in Florida with him. He lived there until the death of his parents. From 1967 he lived at Rose Haven Nursing Center in Roseburg, where he died in 2007.